Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Windresss
Summary: A Generation-X fanfic! This is jus a little AU story that takes place directly after the Gen X team graduates from the Mass. Academy. If the Team breaks up, who can take the X-Men's place as the defenders of Xavier's Dream? Will the future suffer because
1. Looking Back, Walking Forward

Author's Notes 5/27/02:  
Holy Undershorts, Batman! Look at what I found on my computer! This little ficcie has been hanging around on my computer for the better part of a year and a half. I wrote it as a portion of a series my friend had written. But he never finished it and so I never actually gave it to him! Well, now I'm throwing it out there for the rest of ya'll to see, and maybe get some feedback as to whether I should take it further.  
Thanks!  
~Windresss  
  
***  
  
Disclaimer: Yeah like I could even own Marvel Stock!! But Stan Lee Loves me (Don'tcha Stan!?) and he would never sue me for using Gen-X, X-Men, X-Force, Mutant Liberation Front, or any other characters that He knows belongs to him! Luv Ya, Stan tha Man!  
  
***  
  
Nothing Gold can Stay.  
  
Part 1: Looking Back, Walking Forward.  
  
Jubilation Lee stared moodily out the window of her room of the familiar Academy that had become her home.   
  
~Or rather, my former home,~ she corrected mentally, gazing into the colorless autumn sky she didnt really see. Her mind slowly traveled the path of her memories, following the time line until its inevitable destination upon her current situation.   
  
She missed the way things used to be..missed the days of being with the X-Men and working in a team that was attuned to every member's slightest strength and weaknesses. That was something she'd never found on the Gen-X team, even after their graduation...  
  
But most of all, she missed Wolvie. She'd almost forgotten how it felt to know he'd be there to watch her back, or to have the insurmountable task of watching his. She sighed despondently.  
  
~Couldn't coddle me forever, I guess..~ But even as she thought that, she wished that he could have. If anyone could have, Logan could.  
  
A sudden Crash jolted her from her reverie, and Jubilee turned to watch Skin sprint down the hallway. He paused long enough to arch her a wave before returning to his rushed gait. Jubilee was soon to find out why. Hot on his heels dashed a second Skin...the -real- skin.   
  
Jubilee grinned as she heard him bellow the culprit's name in his tauntingly cool voice "oh, Huskie!" Husk had made it a regular habit to imitate Skin, mostly to wreak her revenge on him for so often making fun of her accent...but maybe something more. The teen grinned wider.   
  
~Seems she had finally started to emerge from her mature shell and behave like the rest of us,~ Jubilee mused as she step into the hallway and made her way to the kitchen. ~The girl is moving backwards...starting mature, and getting younger. Too bad we all can't do it that way.~  
  
  
*****  
  
  
Meanwhile, Skin had managed to corner Husk at the end of the hall. Though Angelo Espinosa wasn't of large build, he had a dangerous air about him that could have only resulted from his years dabbling in gangs. He stood now, feet braced apart, fists casually thrust into his pockets. "Best you go back to who you are, Chica, afore someone gets hurt." He raised an eyebrow, a teasing glint in his eyes.  
  
"Why, is that a threat, Angelo?" Paige Gurthrie quiped back, enjoying this verbal fencing they seemed to share nearly everyday. Skin wasn't the type to open up to just anyone, she knew, but if he did....she wanted it to be her.   
  
Ever since that first day when he'd greeted her so casually, despite the fact that they were both trapped in the Harvest Pit, she had wanted it. He had seemed so fearless that day, like the leader she always wanted to be. Like her brother. She knew he thougth she was just some country bumpkin....everyone did. ~But if I could just prove that I am more than that...~ She let her thoughts trail off with a small sigh.   
  
Skin, oblivious to her inner turmoil, merely replied, "S'no threat, chica. It's a promise." The sigh caught his attention though, taking him by surprise. Angelo never missed anything Paige did. Never. The particularly treasured moments were when she forgot herself and allowed her accent to leak into her voice. He always made sure to crow about it incessently, which only served to infuriate her more and create a chain reaction. He didn't know why she got so upset about it. She behaved as if it were a shortcomming. one among many according to her, he was sure.   
  
His lips quirked, taking in her suddenly somber, almost yearning expression, and yearned himself. What was it she was thinking? This time, he too sighed. Why couldnt she see that being as honest and..well, pure..as she was wasn't something to be ashamed of? suddenly, he wanted to make her smile again. "Chica?"  
  
The urge to mock him further having been quelled, Husk's hand reached to tear off the grey toned skin covering her body, only to produce new pinkened flesh beneath. "Alright, alright...I'll quit."  
  
He seemed further surprised by her admission, having been well aware that she preferred to draw out these things. Watching the veritable "husk" fall from Paige's body, he commented idley, "Is something wrong?"  
  
Husk glanced up at him and into his eyes, trying to discern the depth of that question. Instead of answering, she forced a smile to her lips, "Just thinking about how Emma is going to yell when she discovers I havent been cleaning up my messes again." She gestured forgetfully to the pile of dead skin, then continued quickly before Angelo can call her bluff. "C'mon, I'm famished. Lets go get a bite."  
  
  
*****  
  
  
Chamber shuffled his feet in the gravel skirting the circular drive of the Academy's lawn, dropping with an inaudible sigh into the grass beneath one of the large oak trees. He gave pause, wondering why he sighed at all.  
  
~It's not like I'm even breathing...~ Jonathan Evan Starmore thought morosely, dropping his head back against the rough bark of the tree trunk. However, his logic didn't keep him from releasing another mental sigh before his attention was diverted into the bright colors of the changing leaves over head. Something was moving among the magnificent hues of red and gold...  
  
Suddenly, Penance descended to land quietly on hands and feet in the grass alongside him, peering at Chamber in the filtering shade of the tree's canopy. He issued a third sigh, this one of relief.. ~So its only you..~ his voice extended to Penance, allowing her to hear him.  
  
~We are a pair, aren't we? Both speechless...trapped inside ourselves.~  
Penance tilted her head, her crimson skin catching the rays of the sun and glinting, diamond hard. She was a curious girl, Jonathan mused, bearing a primitive level of innocence...like a curious animal.  
  
~But you're not an animal, are you?~ He spoke to her then.. ~..eventhough we sometimes forget that..~  
  
Penance blinked, ruby irises flashing with intelligence she couldn't portray...and Chamber sighed a final time, a sigh of regret. ~pity.~  
  
Rising, he self conciously adjusted the cloth around his face, gesturing with his free hand ~Let's go have some Lunch..How about it, Penance?~ He looked to her, tamping down the urge to merely assume she agreed, and waited.   
  
Penance's lips twitched, curving into a rare smile that had her nodding vigourously, walking alongside him up the steps into the Academy.  
  
  
****Yeah yeah, so its Short. the Whole story is a bit short, what can I say?? Anyway, keep it going here and remember. R&R!! FEED THE BEAST! (my Ego, that is) ;P *** 


	2. Just Wave, I'll Understand

Author's Notes 5/27/02:   
Moooooving On!  
~Windresss  
  
Nothing Gold Can Stay.  
  
Part 2: Just Wave, I'll Understand  
  
  
Jubilee had poured herself a hot mug of water and reached for a tea bag only moments before Husk, followed by Skin, entered the kitchen. She offered a smile to them both, seating herself at the large oval table that dominated the center of the small well lit room.   
  
"Hi Jubes," Paige replied, walking towards the coffee pot of hot water. Pouring herself a mugful, she looked to Angelo in silent inquisition. He waved a hand, reaching to pull open the refridgerator.   
  
"Naw, I got my own.." Pulling out a Dr. Pepper, the grey toned mutant popped the tab and took a long drink before dropping into a seat next to Jubilee.  
  
Chamber suddenly darkened the doorway, looking for all the world like a doom bringer. However his ominous visage was met with less than fear as the inhabitants of the kitchen chimed out, "Hi, Jon!"  
  
If he could have smirked, Chamber would have, amused at their unphased countenances....Amazing how time brought acceptance. He moved forward slightly, making room for Penance. Unfortunately, she was met with lesser fanfare, Jubilee being the only one in the room that piped in a "hi, Pen!"  
  
~Ahem,~ Chamber prodded them all with his mental speak, ~Penance suggested we get something to eat.~  
  
Paige and Angelo looked up mutely While Jubilee voiced what their minds were all struggling to grasp, "She....spoke to you?"  
  
~In not so many words,~ Jonathan replied dryly. ~She's just as much a person as any of us....she just...has a harder time portaying her thoughts. Penance didn't recieve the advantage of telepathy...~ He looked down at the crimson hued girl, ~like I did...~  
  
The three at the table just gaped at him, and then at Penance. Ever so slowly, Jubilee's lips twitched into a faint smile.. "Yeah, Jon....you're right..."  
  
Penance, whom had ducked her head in embarrassment at the scene unfolding in which she was the topic, slowly lifted her gaze to Jubilee.   
  
Sweet Jubilee...she had always been the nicest to her, even if the affection was a bit misplaced. She knew, though, that it was because Jubes was often lonely and missed her friends among the X-Men. Still...The defiant asian girl had a way of making others agree with her. And right now, she was agreeing with Jon. A timid smile curved Penance's lips, and she suddenly rushed forward to hug the seated woman, nearly knocking her from her chair.  
  
"Oh!" Jubilation gave a started yelp, slightly wary of Penance's diamond hard skin. But the suit the smaller girl wore shielded her from being irrepairabley damaged, and she was clinging to her so tightly that Jubilee couldn't help but wrap her arms around her and return the hug.  
  
  
*****  
  
  
"..So...," Husk was the first to speak after the surprising display of affection, casting a glance to Skin, and then back to her former classmates, ".....so.."  
  
~I know what you're thinking, Paige...~ Chamber ominous voice sombered the group of young adults, ~You're wondering....~  
  
"What are we going to do now?" Jubilee finished for them all, releasing Penance so she could curl up in the seat next to her. Chamber leaned with feigned nonchalance on the doorframe, witnessing the sudden depression settling over the room.  
  
Smooth talking Angelo merely shrugged, muttering, "Eh....couldn't last forever..."  
  
Paige blinked, threatening tears stinging her eyes. What was wrong with her? She'd known...they all had known... Her voice was inordinately lacking in its usual strength, "..yeah...but I sure wish it could have..."  
  
Jubilee gritted her teeth, hating this, hating their despair. She could feel it already, the slipping away....She was losing another family...first the X-Men...now Generation-X.. "No! it doesn't have to be like this..We can still be a team..."  
  
She glanced imploringly from one downcast face to the other, desperation edging her features.  
"Naw, Jubes," Angelo shook his head "...We each gotta go our own way... ya know, Chica?"  
  
From the doorway, Jonathan sighed long and low...  
  
"I want you all to know..," Paige was trying to be valiant again, performing a parting speech that would reduce her to tears. But not in front of them...crying was for behind closed doors. For now, she had to be strong for her team. "I want you all to know that it has been a true pleasure working with yo-"  
  
But that was as far as she got. Suddenly, the air above the kitchen table exploded in a streak of purple light, crackling like lightning and throwing the Gen-X team backward.  
  
  
***Who loves me? EVERYONE! C'mon you know you do! Wanna know what happens next??? Well, Click the Button, Silly!*** 


	3. You Can Never Go Home

Author's Notes:  
I know you're not really reading this little commentary because you're sooooooooo anxious to see what going to happen next. But i felt inclined to put it up here anyway. Just wouldn't be a story without my Ramblin's.  
~Windresss  
  
  
  
Nothing Gold Can Stay.  
  
Part 3: You Can Never Go Home  
  
  
Pain stabbed at Jubilee's temples, the bright light blinding even her, who was accostumed to flashes of plasma energy. Her body ached from being tossed from her chair. But nonetheless she suddenly felt like laughing. The first to find her voice, she cried out,   
  
"CLARICE!"  
  
A startled round of gasps could be heard through the haze, then several boats of coughing as the other members discovered their own aches and pains. And there upon the kitchen table, stood the slender figure of Blink, her purple locks swirling about her.   
  
She looked... older, wizened beyond her true age, though it was apparent she had grown nearly twice a fast as the members of the Gen-X team during her abscence. And now she stood before them, no longer believed dead.  
  
Husk drew a gulping breath, the oxygen escaping on an exclamation, "Is it -Really- you?!"  
  
Blink smiled, almost sadly Jubilee noted, and nodded, "It is, Paige....I have returned."  
  
"We thought ya dead, Chica!" Angelo has regained his feet, looking up at her as if he too recognized the aged cast to her features. He glanced to Jubilee, who only shrugged.  
  
"If Frostie catches you on the table, there'll be hell to pay.."  
  
For the first time in entirely too long, Clarice Ferguson smiled with true warmth, her eyes lighting up the way they used to before she disappeared from this dimension in an effort to save them all. It warmed Jubilee, somewhere inside....where it had been cold a very long time.  
  
The purple skinned woman stepped off the table, swathed in a green costume that differed drastically from the one she wore when Paige first met her as a captive of the Phalanx. It clung to her in a way that made even Chamber look upon the girl...no, woman....differently.   
  
Though Clarice was certainly old, she was only a scant half inch taller than she had been when she left them, but the gangly look was gone, replaced by muscled contours that spoke of rigors the Team had yet to imagine.  
  
It was obvious that no one wanted to broach the subject of where she had disappeared to, but Jubilee felt prodded to point out, "Damn, Girl...you've changed..."  
  
"..and it ain't all bad...," Skin, like usual, added his suggestive remark, eyebrow waggling. The team chuckled in unison, save for the still quiet Blink and a oddly troubled looking Paige.   
Clarice glanced to the girl she had met so long ago, and quirked a magenta brow, but remained silent. Instead, she waved a hand to quiet them.   
  
"I could have returned before now, but I dared not. I had to prepare..to learn all I could so I could help you in what is to come..."  
  
She let her words sink in, watching the group for a long moment as confusion clouded their eyes. Finally, Jubilee spoke, "So you came from the future?"  
  
"An alternate future, yes....A future that will be, unless you all stop it."  
  
Silence again. And disbelieving looks. "You're Kidding, Right?" Angelo scoffed, eyeing her almost warily.  
  
"If only I were, Angelo..."  
  
Jubilee finally spoke again, putting things together with more ease than the rest of the team. After all, she did work with Bishop for years, so time travel and alternate futures were nothing new.   
  
"Thats why you are so much older...You've been there for at least a year or more longer than you've been gone here." At Clarice's nod, Jubilee suddenly became all business, "Whats happened, Blink? What's wrong with our Future?"  
  
At that, the purple woman released a low sigh, looking pained... "It is not so simple as to tell you..and..I'm rather tired, Jubes.."  
  
Jubilation snapped out of her state in an instant, "Oh, Clarice, I'm sorry. You need rest and all this can wait at least one more day.." Seized again by impulse, a force she should really learn to control, she moved forward and hugged the young woman tightly.   
  
And suddenly, they all were. A tight circle of team members embraced their lost friend, abandoning their somber thoughts for the joy of her return.  
  
  
*****  
  
  
Clarice sighed, stepping into the homey but scantily furbished room just two doors down from the room Jubilee shared with Paige. She glanced around, smiling at the attempts made to give it a personal touch.   
  
Half of Jubilee's monsterous stuffed animal collection was piled on the bed, each of the smiling creatures propped against the pillow. ~It's amazing how much they've changed....yet haven't at all..~  
  
She shook her head, unwrapping the towel from around her head and allowing her wet tresses to tumble down her back. Dressed in a borrowed shirt and windshorts, she dropped the towel to the carpet and walked to sit on the edge of the bed. Blink picked up one of the animals, a worn stuffed elephant that looked like it had been acquired at a carnival, and gazed into its shiney, lifeless eyes.   
  
~These people....my friends...How can I ask this of them? In so many ways, they are still the children I remembered and admired.~ She smirked dryly, ~I was a child then too....but I thought I knew so much...~  
  
"Logan won that for me..." The quiet comment startled Blink, dashing her thoughts as she looked up into Jubilee's silhouette in the doorway.  
  
"It must mean a lot to you, then..." Clarice, like everyone, was aware of the special relationship Jubilee had with the man called Wolverine. She understood it better than some.  
  
Jubilee nodded, walking into the room and sitting down on the bed next to the purple skinned woman, "..Yes...it does...People are always telling me to get rid of it..that it reeks of cigar smoke.." She smiled, an odd smile that Blink couldn't place.  
  
"..But I always say 'no.' Not because I love the stuffed animal...but because I love the memory..and the man." Jubilee reached out and took the toy, sighing wistfully, "It seems so long ago...but it could have only been a couple of years..."  
  
And Blink realized what Jubilee was trying to tell her. The team may still seem like a group of children, but war, and surely that was what it was, does funny things to people. It makes adults out of kids, wise men out of fools. Clarice swallowed tightly, nodding. How could she have not seen that, when she had aged the same way?  
  
Jubilee lingered a moment longer, then smiled and offered her friend the stuffed elephant. Blink took it, grasping it tightly to her chest, "Thank you.."  
  
Jubilee grinned, tone shifting into its usual brisk note, "What are friends for?"  
  
~What indeed..~ Clarice mused, watching the woman depart.  
  
  
*****And So, another Chapter down. Did you like my little surprise? WEll, just you wait, cause I'm not ever CLOSE to through shocking you!*** 


	4. Never Tell Me the Odds

Author's Notes:  
  
  
Nothing Gold Can Stay.  
  
Part 4: Never Tell Me the Odds  
  
  
The next day began tentatively, with the members of Generation X tiptoeing about the Academy. They were all itching to know what was happening and -why- Blink had returned if, for so long, she had chosen not to. However, they didn't wish to push her, and she knew that.  
  
Or she thought she knew that, she reminded herself as she rounded the corner into the living room and was suddenly faced with not one but five large, expectant smiles. Well, four smiles and a tightly wound scarf. She chuckled dryly, shaking her head and moving to a seat next to Chamber, who tried to look like he wasn't interested in the conversation about to commence.  
  
"So...," Paige was ever the articulate one, but never seemed to get past that one word. Jubilee saved her, taking it from there.  
  
"I think we should discuss this now so we don't all get driven crazy." Penance, whom had latched herself firmly to Jubilee since yesterday, nodded vigorously, leaning forward on her couch cushion.  
  
Clarice nodded, glancing around at the unusual group of friends. "I think its best if I tell you now....I can't explain everything. There are things you shouldn't know yet because it could change your actions in the future."   
  
When Angelo opened his mouth to protest, she shook her head, "Do not ask it of me..I cannot. Almost from the instant I arrived at the future I learned that things were not as our mentors had planned."  
  
Jubilee's expression darkened slightly, remembering another tale of their future gone wrong. They had managed to avert Bishop's fate...could they handle this one? "How So, Clarice?"  
  
The purple-skinned woman thought for a moment on how to begin... "X-Force is divided...they're gone, aren't they?"  
  
At Chamber's nod, Clarice continued, "The loss of X-Force did not effect many events at first...a great deal of time passed, with the X-Men defending the people against any threat that arose. Life was not so different." She smiled, the emotion passing,   
  
"But to one who uses time as his advantage, these years held great significance. Stryke and his band of mutants...the "Mutant Liberation Front"...had fought and been defeated before. The mutants were young, untrained and unhopeful against seasoned fighters like the X-Men.  
  
She glanced around again, suddenly apprehensive, "However, Generation-X had disbanded with the groups graduation. From what I heard you all went your seperate ways, in teams that never lasted."   
  
A glance was cast to the Dark headed Asian, "..All except Jubilee, that is, who returned to fight with Wolverine after graduating from College."  
  
She sighed, pausing to gather herself, "...Time changes all things, and as the years continued, the X-Men began to show their age."  
  
Jubilee stirred, but wisely remained silent.  
  
Clarice just smiled softly, "..Xavier grew old and passed away, peacefully...in his sleep. It was like his dream died just as softly...grew tired and just..faded away."  
  
She blinked tightly, clearing her throat, "There was no younger team to take the X-Men's place...circumstances I cannot get into, really. And as the X-Men aged, so did the Mutant Liberation Front. The young mutants became trained warriors under Stryfe's command, they were strong..but not invincible..."  
  
For a long moment, silence reigned. Chamber could not help but lay a palm on Blink's shoulder, the soft trembling of the woman awakening a familiar ache within him, of loss and sorrow.  
  
"They almost won....almost had them..." She looked up at them all, moisture glistening in her eyes, "...But the X-Men were just...too tired..even Cyclops..." Her voice grew unsteadily quiet. "..even he died.."  
  
Silent horror permeated the room, holding each team member immobile in its grip. So many of them... -all- of them had somehow just assumed that the X-Men would always be there... that Cyclops would always be the hero he was now, Jean always the powerful compassionate woman they loved so dearly....  
  
"Wolvie?" Jubilee's small voice trembled, her eyes shining with denial that Logan... -Logan-..could ever fall. When Blink offered her a shaky smile, she closed her eyes, teardrops beading on her lashes.   
  
"Wolverine is the one who found me...who told me this story. He nearly died, but his healing factor saved him..as it always does." She looked down, unwilling to see the expression upon the firecracker's face as her voice grew softer... "...Now he is just a ravaged old man with one arm...scars on his skin...scars in his eyes..."  
  
Jubilee issued a high whimper, her large pupils glistening reflectively, and Penance's arms wrapped around her tightly, consoling the girl wordlessly.  
  
Clarice could only continue.. "He...He told me to come back and to prepare you all..."  
  
Her slender fingers wiped at her eyes, looking around at the mute faces, "You see, The X-Men cannot live forever...so you all must take your place..."  
  
"...as the New X-Force."  
  
  
***And so, this is where it ends. At least for now....If it stinks, then I won't bother to add on to it. But If i recieve reviews that simply BEG for me to continue......well....we'll see *Evil Grin* Muwahaha!! *** 


End file.
